Girl Meets Labyrinth
by redhead15
Summary: Riley's teacher assigns Labyrinth for class reading. It takes place when Riley is a sophomore in high school and is slightly J/S.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Labyrinth and Girl Meets Wold belongs to their respective owners. Feel free to review and comment.

Chapter 1: Class Reading

I walked into English carrying the new class novel we started. Technically, beginning today, but our teacher, Miss Williams, made us read it over the weekend. The title itself caught my attention. As I emersed myself into it, the story came alive until I was the woman trying to undo what she had done.

"Hello, Miss Matthews," she said as I walked through the door into her classroom.

"Hi," I answered her in my usual quirky manner.

"Did you read the class novel over the weekend like I assigned?" she asked.

"I loved it," I responded walking to my seat.

"Good, that means that you are going to have a much more general knowledge of the book." The bell rang signaling that class has started.

"Class take your seats," Miss Williams ordered. "I hope everyone read our class novel for homework."

"That's not fair," said one of our classmates as Mr. Turner walked in. Why were they here? It must be one of those routine administrative sit-ins where they observe the teacher teaching.

"Yogi, I wonder what your basis for comparison is? I guess that not many of your teachers required you to read outside of class, but Labyrinth isn't that long of a book."

"That is a fascinating phrase Williams," said Mr. Turner as he started parading around that classroom.

"Mr. Turner," said Miss Williams, "it is not one of my phrases, but it was something someone taught me when I was about their age. It was something that...gave me a better understanding of reality."

"He must have been a great teacher to you," said Mr. Turner.

Miss Williams looked like she remembered something before she answered, "He was a great teacher in a way."

There was something different by the way she answered him. It was as though she had mixed feelings for whoever it was, or it was the situation that made it difficult.

Miss Williams was different than the other teachers. She felt more real, more authentic than the others. She understood us in a way that most teachers did, but she was almost the most strict teacher I ever had.

A barn owl landed on a tree outside the window. Miss Williams started taking deep breaths before continuing speaking. She seemed to be afraid of it. I wrote it off that she must have some bird-related phobia.

"Williams," called Mr. Turner, "are you alright?"

"Yes, sorry Mr. Turner. Class, Mr. Turner is observing me today, so be on your best behavior."

"There is no need. Worse has happened when I have observed people. May I ask your class a few questions?"

"There is no need to ask permission," she answered respecting his authority.

"Miss Heart, what book are you reading currently?" he asked.

"Some play called Labyrinth, Turner," she answered with her usual cocky nature.

"Miss Matthews, tell your father he needs to start shaping up when it comes to Miss Heart. Now, Mr. Friar, what is the book about?"

"It is about a young girl who wishes away a baby to the Goblin King. After realizing that she didn't mean it, she runs the Labyrinth to get the baby back."

"I am done asking questions," said Mr. Turner. "The class is yours again."

"Did any of you notice the theme of the story or is there anything that stood out to you? Yes, Miss Matthews?" Miss Williams called.

"I thought that the theme was careful of what you wished for," I answered.

"That is an excellent observation," she said. "Yes, Farkle?"

"I noticed that at the beginning of the story the main character was somewhat selfish, but as she ran the Labyrinth, she started becoming selfless realizing that she did not consider everyone else around her."

"You bring up a perfect point, Farkle. We all have a selfish side, but some of us are more selfish than others. Now I would like to bring up what the Labyrinth looks like. As you could guess, it is a massive maze. The Labyrinth changes what it looks like unpredictably. Does anyone have a guess how this may be an obstacle for our protagonist? Yes, Smackle."

"The change would make her confused and slow her down."

"That is correct."

We started reading and discussing the first act of the play. The owl did not budge but seemed to be watching Miss Williams staring as though she was its prey waiting for the right moment to swoop down to get her. I did not see it as anything that should be frightening because it is just an owl. The bell soon rang dismissing us to lunch.

"Have a great rest of the day," she said.

Before I left the classroom, I swore I saw her look terrified about the owl. I shook it off because it was just an owl. What does she have to be afraid of? She must have a phobia of birds or owls.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Sorry I have not updated in a while, but I have been busy doing other stuff. Nothing belongs to me except the plot, and please review and comment.

Chapter 2: Mistake and Cunsequences

When I got home from school that day, Auggie was in my room, and I don't like it when he was in there when I needed to work on homework. I took a deep breath before I started trying to usher him out of my room because he doesn't understand the stress of needing time to do work.

"Auggie, I need to work on homework. Can you leave so that I can work on homework?" I asked him as politely as I could.

"Can you play with me when you finish?" he replied to me.

"Yes I will," I promised him.

Auggie left feeling like I had abandoned him. If all of my homework were not due the next day, I would play with him. The homework should not take me all night to complete When I finish it; I can play with Auggie.

By the time I finished, Auggie was already in bed. As for me, I climbed into bed and didn't want to get up again. Begrudgingly, Mom got me up so I could go to school.

"Hey Riley," Maya greeted me when we saw each other at the subway station.

"Hey," I answered back, "how long did it take you to finish the homework?"

"I was up to almost midnight," she answered slightly a little suspicious.

"I thought you don't do homework?' I laughed at her knowing that she was probably lying about it.

"First I did it," she said making me feel guilty," and secondly Mrs. Burgess ruined my reputation."

"I just hope that we don't have as much today as yesterday," I said hopefully.

Unfortunately, the homework remained constant as it did yesterday and for the rest of the week. The same thing happened every day. I would get home, and Auggie would be waiting for me. I would ask him to go because I had homework. Then I would finish after Auggie went to bed.

Friday was the one day that week I did not have any homework, so I decided when the last bell rang, I was going to sleep. That decision was the worst decision I made. When I got home, Auggie was inside my room. Out of exhaustion, I asked for him to leave, but he did not move.

"Auggie, can you please leave?" I begged him.

"No," he screamed, "can you please play with me?"

"Riley," Mom yelled.

"What?" I responded

"Your dad and I are going out, and you need to watch Auggie."

I heard the door shut around seven meaning that Mom and Dad left. I fell onto the couch. That was when I heard something happen in Auggie's room.

"Auggie," I yelled fearfully.

"Riley," Auggie answered as he walked into the living room, "I want to play with you."

"Auggie, I have had a ton of homework over the past week, and I need some time to disengage," I answered.

"You never have time for me!"

"Don't say that," I tried to reason with him.

"No," he screamed.

"I have had so much homework this week that you would not understand! I need to relax."

"Riley, I want you to play with me," he pleaded.

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now," I yelled as I left the room.

I remembered the words from Labyrinth, the book we have been reading. It was a story, so these words don't have any power behind them. I got worried after an hour. Auggie would have barged into my room by now, so I walked into his bedroom. The lights were not on, so I flipped the switch. However, he was not there.

"Auggie!" I yelled. "If you are hiding, please come out."

Everything started spinning after that. The windows opened, and an owl flew inside. It was similar to the one that would perch itself outside of Miss William's classroom.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Entering the Labyrinth

The storm inside Auggie's room settled down as I started to get my confidence back. I looked toward where the owl was supposed to be, but instead, a man took the owl's place. He was tall, regal, and commanding in his presence. His hair showed that he did not keep it well, but his eyes were the strangest thing. They flared waiting to diminish any form of defiance.

"Who are you?" I asked him as I studdered to get the words out of my mouth.

"You know who I am," he answered with a smooth and cold British accent as he pulled my copy of Labyrinth out of my hand and then handing it back to me.

He was the Golbin King. He couldn't be him because the Goblin King was a fictional character. If he is real, I just condemned my brother to become a goblin.

"Please don't turn Auggie into a goblin," I pleaded with him. He let out a chuckle that brought fear into my mind.

"That is why I am here," he smirked as he held out a crystal ball. "I offer you a choice. This crystal holds your dreams; take it, and your brother becomes one of us forever. Or, you can run the Labyrinth to win him back, but if you fail, your brother will become a goblin forever."

"Where is he?" I asked him.

"He is in my castle," he pointed out the window.

I cast my eyes to where he was pointing. In front of my eyes, I could see the lit streets of New York transformed into a red, rugged, dead countryside. In the far distance, there was a castle. Auggie was there.

"I give you a choice," The Goblin King said as he stepped behind me.

I looked around. Auggie's bedroom was gone, and I was in the Labyrinth. I was standing on a hill overlooking the entrance of the Labyrinth.

"What is the choice?" I asked.

"Out of the thousands of years that I had ruled the Labyrinth and the hundreds of runners that ran my Labyrinth, only one was able to beat it. You can turn back now, and your brother will be stuck here forever."

"What if I told you I did not mean what I said?" I asked.

"What said is said," he answered taking a step back. "If you want your brother back, then you will have to run my Labyrinth."

"That is not fair!" I yelled at him as a clock appeared next to him.

"I have heard that phrase before," he sneered at him as he stalked closer to me. A glint in his eyes murdered my defiance, but they also seemed to be remembering someone else as though they were a past someone who he loved. He shook it off before continuing. "It doesn't matter anymore. You have thirteen hours to solve my Labyrinth."

He faded out of sight as he stepped back leaving me alone to try my luck. I turned to where the wall of the maze stood, and I started running down to it. I took in everything. Outside the gate, there was a small garden breaking the appearance of a desolate place. There, I saw something tending to it.

"Who are you?" a grumpy voice asked. I turned around to see a gnome and dwarf mixed standing behind me.

"I am Riley," I answered friendly.

"You are looking for the entrance to the Labyrinth, I suppose," he commented as I kept walking to the wall.

"Yes, how did you know?" I asked.

"That is what most people who come this way are looking for," he answered.

"Can you help me?" I asked him receiving a snort from him.

"If I were you, I wouldn't go into there," he answered.

"Why not?" I asked.

"You want to go in to save a wished away person, and I don't know if the King told you but-"

"I know, only one person has managed to defeat the Labyrinth," I interrupted as he opened the door.

I sprinted inside looking left and right to see which way I should go. There were only two ways to go left and right. Hoggle turned around and started going back outside of the Labyrinth.

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"Back outside because I don't want to take part in this."

"Can you at least tell me which way I should go?"

"I wouldn't go either way," he answered.

"Why?"

"Either way you go, the Labyrinth will try to stop you," he answered as he shut the gates.

"I guess I will go right then," I said to myself before I started running in that general direction.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Champion and the King

Miss Williams sat in her apartment after a long week of teaching. After finishing brushing her hair, she gazed upon the pictures that decorated her vanity. There was a picture of her mother, her father and stepmother, and her brother and his family. Thrown to the side was her used copy of Labyrinth faded and torn with years of reading. She shuddered like she always did when she happened to see it on the lonely Friday nights. The memory of what happened over thirty years ago still lingered in her mind. She had won that was all that mattered to her at this point, but the mistake she made there would cost her everything in the end.

She looked over the night sky in New York before shutting the curtains closed like she always did when she would talk to her friends in case _he_ was watching. Miss Williams managed to hide from _him_ every day since she was eighteen. Based on her knowledge of _him,_ she figured it was by some luck _he_ had not found her yet. She looked into the mirror seeing that she hadn't aged a day since her eighteenth birthday because of her mistake.

"Hoggle, I wish to see you," she said in a clear voice. Typically she talked to her friends from the Labyrinth when she had a stressful week. To her surprise, it wasn't Hoggle that appeared at her vanity mirror, but the very person she had been avoiding.

"Well, Sarah isn't a lovely surprise," answered the Goblin King wearing his usual poet's shirt.

"Where is Hoggle?" she asked with every concern and doubt filling her head and making a list of every possible oubliette that she knew of.

"I sent Hogwart to distract a runner," he answered with a high degree of arrogance.

"Hoggle," Sarah corrected before asking, "what runner?"

"Oh yes, I believe one of your pupils wished away her brother. I expected it since you were required to teach Labyrinth this year; however, I was more expecting at least one of your students to wish you away to save me the trouble of continuing my hunt for you."

"Oh Goblin King," she answered, "it was the entire point, to hide from you so I would not go back to her castle. How did you even know I was going to be teaching that story anyway?"

"Oh Sarah, I merely decided to listen in to your conversation with Hedgewart the other day when you were throwing hysterics about teaching it. I found it amusing, and it kindled my hope that I could finally claim something that is mine."

"If you wanted to claim me, why have you not tried to get yet? It has been over thirty years."

"I came to your house on the day of your eighteenth birthday, but you were gone. Oh, Sarah, you have been very bright up till now on how you managed to hide from me these past thirty years. My magic has its limitations. I cannot go straight to you unless I know exactly where you are. You have been smart about this. Closing the curtains to your window everytime you speak with your friends. I prefer to make my claim of you a more private affair, but I will result in taking you out of your classroom if I have to. You and I know that your luck will run dry eventually."

"I will keep running until it does run off from me," Sarah responded shortly. "Who is the runner?"

"I believe her name was Riley, Riley Matthews," the Goblin King answered.

"Jareth!" screamed Sarah both at who he was talking about and at herself to resorting to using his first name. "If I find out that you had something to do with what she did-"

"Sarah, you cannot pin this one on me. You know it is against the rules of the Labyrinth for me to trick someone into wishing away someone or themselves, or else I would have found you much earlier."

"Really? I noticed that my students were having an abundance of homework for the past week that far outweighs the normal homework amount."

"Sarah, it was merely a coincidence that they received more homework the week you started teaching Labyrinth when one of your pupils wished her brother away."

Sarah's fists slammed down on the desk after what he said. He had to have had a part to play in this. Jareth did not do as much as flinch looking unfazed by what she did.

"Jareth, do not lie to me," she gritted.

"I would not do such a thing as that concerning something like this," he answered sounding as innocent as possible.

"You admit you would lie to me," Sarah yelled at him.

"Given the circumstances," Jareth answered. "Sarah, by the way, I heard the majority of your class on Monday. I remembered when you were that young kid who dared to speak your favorite phrase and your response to it. You have grown since the spoiled brat that wished away her half-brother."

"If you were there, why didn't you follow me home ending our little game?" Sarah asked keeping her voice steady.

"You see, our little game, as you called it, gives me something to do while I wait for some naive, spoiled child to wish away their sibling. I only have a runner for my Labyrinth every few centuries. You couldn't understand the significance of having two runners within thirty years of each other."

Sarah blushed uncontrollably much to her disliking. Jareth looked at her and smirked about the results that his comment made. He held out his hand beckoning for Sarah to take it leading her into his world. Sarah stood up backing up until she was a foot from the mirror flashing a triumphant smile at the barrier the glass created.

"Don't you have a runner to torment? Don't damage her too badly because she has to turn in an essay Monday morning."

"As my lady commands," Jareth said bowing as his image dissolved.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Advice

I found a false wall with two paths. One went to the left while the other went to the right. Which way? All I knew, one could lead to something dangerous, or both could be bad. Closing my eyes, I pointed down a path. I opened to see that I chose the one going to the left. I took a step on the stone ground to go to the left. A wall suddenly went up causing me to go to the right.

My surroundings changed. The paths between the walls were broader than they were previously; nevertheless, the trails were just as hard as they were. The sky appeared to be less depressing. A few clouds decorated it, but they seemed to be moving away from the general direction I was going. I kept walking taking in the scenery as I went. Shrubs, bushes, and vines sparsely littered the walls. It was a change from the roots and dead vegetation from the preceding section. I shook my head deciding that the labyrinth was trying to screw me other.

I walked into a large circular, stone clearing with a large throne-like chair in the middle facing east. I walked up to it as a troll-like-creature with a dodo bird head sat on the throne. The dodo head squawked noticing me.

"Look," it squawked again, "we have a customer."

I lingered where I was before the troll saw me.

"Come, child," the troll addressed me, "ask what you wish to know."

"Do you know how to get to the center of the labyrinth?" I asked him starting to develop a sense of warning. Something in me kept screaming that I would not get far with the troll.

"Sometimes when we think we are not getting far..." the troll said in a calming voice that tended to drag on certain words before the hat decided to rush in.

"We are," he squawked.

"...we are," the troll finished slightly annoyed.

"Leave a little contribution in the little box," the hat said.

I walked off slowly before jolting into a sprint feeling guilty because I didn't have anything to put into the box though what I heard wasn't worth much. I didn't have any money on me or valuable, so I couldn't give the troll and his hat anything. In short, there wasn't anything I could do, so why did I feel bad about it?

I shook it off and kept moving. How much time did I have left? I couldn't think about it now, or else I would lose. The labyrinth didn't change in style; therefore, I had to be in the same section. The walls were more marble in color with green vines growing over them.

I looked and saw the castle. It was getting closer, so I had to be making some progress. That in itself caused me to have some encouragement.

I then heard something growl coming over the walls. I followed it and found a massive beast wandering around the maze. The creature had a red fur with two horns on top of its head. The animal reminded me of the monster from the book _Where The Wild Things Are._

"What is your name?" I asked it rubbing my hand on its soft fur.

"Lodo," the beast roared.

"Lodo?" I asked. "Can you help me get to the Goblin City?"

"Yes," it roared again.

"Thank you," I said throwing my arms around it. It curled its large furry arms around me creating a large blanket around me. I let the beast go as it started leading me through the maze.


End file.
